Thank you BioWare for the best expansion yet.

[Aowin]

...

1. I think the fight with Arcann really depends on the class (and your situational awareness). The fight was pretty fun on my guardian. On my gunslinger, I got knocked down quite a bit more. Overall, I still enjoyed the mechanics of the fight.

 

2. Beside the shield, none of the temporary abilities were really required. I appreciate BioWare is trying to make fights more interesting rather than it just being a simple button mash until the health bar drops to zero. The problem is MMO combat doesn't lend itself well to this kind of storytelling approach.

 

3. You are talking about the "Classic Dialogue Mode." That is paying homage to how old school BioWare games, such as KotOR 1, used to present dialogue. A silent protagonist with a list of dialogue options. That was intentional to try and make long-time BioWare fans happy and nostalgic. It's only for the Alliance stuff so I don't see it being that big of a deal.

 

4. That's something I'm hoping BioWare will continue to improve upon. My suspicion is due to how massive in scope KotFE is and how many characters had lines of dialogue, BioWare can only do so much to give everybody ample dialogue. It's likely a budgetary issue.

 

5. I'm not really sure the rationale behind this other than maybe for immersion purposes. I can only conclude BioWare doesn't want Lana running around in a dancer's outfit while in the middle of this epic, immersive story? That being said, all the class companions can still be customized, so it's a little strange the new ones can't be. I don't mind as much as I'm more interested in their use rather than how they look, but I certainly understand the frustration of others.

Edited August 11, 2016 by Aowin

[Rhysling]

A very good expansion. The first one I cared to take all my alts through, and create more for. I am looking forward to 16 more Chapters starting this Fall.

[Vhaegrant]

Enjoyed the chapters. Some solid story telling in there and good to see some companions back and recruitable by all.

[Sith-Viscera]

I like to thank BW and all the people i watched at the end credits of the KOTFE. For all your hard work and imagination and dedication in making, My SWTOR experience one of my best gaming XP in a long time. I do mean TY to all those people that crafted the story line to the CGI and Voice overs, to those that just got the coffee for all the others on the team so they can work later into the night, and every one else in between. THANK YOU one and ALL.

 

I applaud you all........

 

Cant wait for the next Expansion....

[Matisaha]

Aye. 'twas enjoyable. The waiting for each chapter bit was... painful, I admit. But never the less the chapters were largely enjoyable. Not a huge fan of the constant robotic troopers and overall trash but, I see why they're there.

 

Really happy that one can choose the ending for KOTFE. I was a bit miffed but had the whole ¨welp... guess I saw that coming¨ until something else happened that let me choose.

 

Arcann was nice enough. Sky troopers were too many. Vaylin... too edgy. Might become better.

 

But yes. Thanks Bioware for the expansion. I enjoyed the ride. Doing it on all alts though after this.. will be rough indeed.

[Aowin]

...

I didn't mind the "one chapter per month" approach myself as much. The wait between Chapter IX and Chapter X was very painful though, as it was four months. By slowly releasing the later chapters BioWare is able to provide longevity to the expansion and by the time it's over the new expansion is ready to go. There's certainly room for improvement but the overall scheme is a very solid plan in my opinion. I do think the subscriber rewards could be a lot better, as the only ones worth having were the few at the beginning, such as HK-55 as a companion.

 

A lot of people felt as if their choices didn't matter and were just assuming Chapter 16 was going to change all of that. We knew before KotFE released that the story would continue beyond it. We also knew that in Chapter 16 we'd be able to defeat Arcann, and we did. The main reason I know choices are going to have a huge impact is because of the choice checklist by companions you impact. The game has been keeping tabs all along and every time you make a big decision the game takes note.

 

I think people are being overly critical and negative for a multitude of reasons. But, as the story continues and we start to see those choices have consequence I think folks will change their views (the reasonable ones anyway). You have to give BioWare credit; it is building a long-term plan and it is making an ambitious expansion approach that has never been done in an MMO. I appreciate this focus on story, as that is this game's best element, and I look forward to BioWare refining it and honing it.

Edited August 11, 2016 by Aowin

[Rion_Starkiller]

Hmm, I think the opposite of the OP.

 

While there were some great moments in KOTFE (and I especially appreciate the graphics upgrade), the story is no where near the quality of the 8 class stories. KOTFE is linear with no replayability. It matters very little if you are Sith or Republic, Vanguard or Sorcerer.

Edited August 11, 2016 by Rion_Starkiller

[Aowin]

Hmm, I think the opposite of the OP.

 

While there were some great moments in KOTFE (and I especially appreciate the graphics upgrade), the story is no where near the quality of the 8 class stories. KOTFE is linear with no replayability. It matters very little if you are Sith or Republic, Vanguard or Sorcerer.

 

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. I only thought the Jedi Knight, Smuggler, and Sith Inquisitor stories were really good myself. The rest were decent with the Trooper and Jedi Consular stories being the worst. However, I believe all of BioWare's single player RPG stories (especially KotOR and Mass Effect) are far superior to any of the storytelling in the eight class stories.

 

I think KotFE does a lot to surpass the original class stories. For one, it just has really interesting characters and compelling antagonists where the class story villains were all forgettable. Also, it's worth pointing out I'm specifically comparing KotFE to RotHC and SoR, which in my opinion were both lackluster and largely disappointing expansions with regard to storytelling.

 

I'm not really sure how KotFE is anymore linear than the class stories, as your choices really don't affect much in those stories either. Certainly, there was virtually no change in the Sith Warrior story when you are dark or light. The Sith Emperor still makes you his Wrath even though he logically would never make someone who follows the light his main enforcer. I think the criticism that KotFE doesn't apply well to non-force users is credible though and hopefully BIoWare can somehow address that going forward. Without a doubt KotFE makes the most sense for the Jedi Knight class and probably was made for it.

[wilkiealbert]

ya on what planet this was the worst yet it was to hard to play and not all of your abelates you cant use cause they don't work at all so no pont in aveing them some of my toons cat get past the ferst part of it so no its not that good

[gabigool]

I think KotFE does a lot to surpass the original class stories. For one, it just has really interesting characters and compelling antagonists where the class story villains were all forgettable.

 

Arcann & Vaylin.... compelling?

 

I believe most people strongly disagree.

 

I'm not really sure how KotFE is anymore linear than the class stories, as your choices really don't affect much in those stories either. Certainly, there was virtually no change in the Sith Warrior story when you are dark or light.

 

"Choices matter" is a mantra that was specifically attributed to KotFE as a response to player feedback that choices mattered little in previous content. As such, being on par with the class stories in that regard should not be the goal.

 

Don't get me wrong, I feel it's a fool's errand in an MMO. But as it was promised, it's fair to hold it to scrutiny; and your barometer misses the point.

[Aowin]

...

Reasonable minds may differ? The reception to Arcann and especially Vaylin has been pretty positive from what I've seen. They may not be the best villains ever made, but they are definitely memorable. I can't say the same for any of the villains in the class story, with perhaps the exception of the Jedi Knight since he/she fought against the Sith Emperor.

 

My point that I have had to reiterate time and time again is that KotFE was never the end of the story. It is only the beginning. As I said, if you look at your main companions, you will see a checklist of choices you have made and whether they approved or not. Obviously, this is building up for major consequences in the future based on what you did. We already saw Koth go rogue for some and I believe there may be more to that than many people believe.

 

The class stories had no true diverging choices with consequences. Every class story ends the same way regardless of your alignment. I just don't see why many are trying to hold them in such high regard as if they are so vastly superior to KotFE. This expansion, while it has its flaws, is easily the best storytelling SWTOR has seen yet in my personal opinion. I think BioWare will only continue to improve and we should hopefully see a lot of that early on with KotET.

Edited August 11, 2016 by Aowin

[Costello]

Reasonable minds may differ? The reception to Arcann and especially Vaylin has been pretty positive from what I've seen. They may not be the best villains ever made, but they are definitely memorable. I can't say the same for any of the villains in the class story, with perhaps the exception of the Jedi Knight since he/she fought against the Sith Emperor.

 

I don't know what feedback you have been seeing but what I have seen it has been the exact opposite. Its a general feeling that Arcann is a very bad villain and in fact a lazy wreck.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=884849

 

Other than off screen uber power no one has been very impressed with the writing which almost solely has him going 'Damn you Outlander!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

 

But the best was yet to come when he lost his throne, his fleet his armies and what does he do. He goes hunting the Outlander cause all that other stuff is immaterial. Are you kidding me that's a badly written character who is so one dimensional he doesn't react to the events around him cause that would required a flesh out out.

 

Valkorian to Arcann

Valkorian: If you but say yes all my power will be yours

Arcann: Damn you Outlander!

Valkorian: Don't you want the power?

Arcann: Damn you Outlander!

Valkorian: What the hell are you going on about?

Arcann: Damn you Outlander!

Valkorian: So basically I'm offering you all the power you wanted but you are so badly written you only have one line and one empotion that of damning the Outlander?

Arcann: Damn you Outlander!

 

And Vaylin as far as villains go is even worse cause she is bat **** crazy, but not even interesting crazy. The type of unrealistic crazy where you may be insane and murder your own side cause you don't like odd numbers. But some how you are the most powerful force user cause everyone knows crazy ****s are the most powerful force users because of that forcus they can bring to bare and you have the loyalty of your troops because despite being crazy and killing them all at random your a tactical genius cause everyone knows crazy people are master tacticans and he ability to lead troops puts Thrawn to shame. But since chapter 8 she gets her own Catch-phrase 'Damn you Mother.' So now we can have:

 

Arcann: Damn you Outlander!

Vaylin: Damn you Mother!

*repeat 1 millions times and then start again*

 

That makes for good Villains, I think not. Memorable for the time being cause people are pissed they couldn't kill them and they are current. If the Voidwolf was the current big bad he would be memorable, just as the emperor, Revan and the Dreadmasters were before.

[rg_campbell]

For me the big disappointment was Vitiate's change in personality to Valkorian. He goes from mass murderer (wiped out Nathema and Ziost) to a family man, who seems very nuetral. I would've liked much more story to explain this change as I found it very hard to believe. From the beginning the KOTFE story was flawed in this regard and I could never really get into it on any emotional level.

 

I cannot therefore endorse this expansion to anyone, I however will talk up the original stories, ROTHC and the excellent Dreadmasters story line, that has an excellent story and 2 Ops to finish as well as the Dreadseeds for extra gameplay if you wish. KOTFE wasn't a patch on the previous content, return to Bioware story telling indeed....

Edited August 11, 2016 by rg_campbell

[KyaniteD]

I have never once seen a request by BW asking what sort of content the playerbase would like. No one has ever asked. Not once.

 

The really, really sad thing is: they did ask. Twice. Once at the guild summit, and once in their market research campaign, both in early 2012. At the market research thingie we got a questionnaire about content, what we'd like to see and what we'd be willing to pay for it. In 2013 it turned out to be about RotHC/2.x . (Which for me, personally, was the best expansion+game update combo yet.)

 

After that I've never seen them ask again, and while correlation does not imply causation, to me there has been a notable decline in quality of expansions and updates. The things that continuously hold my attraction and attention are pre-3.0.

Edited August 11, 2016 by KyaniteD

[Toraak]

Hmm, I think the opposite of the OP.

 

While there were some great moments in KOTFE (and I especially appreciate the graphics upgrade), the story is no where near the quality of the 8 class stories. KOTFE is linear with no replayability. It matters very little if you are Sith or Republic, Vanguard or Sorcerer.

 

I fully agree with this opinion. and I'll add with the lack of new MMO content, it made this expansion the worst. with an ok story (some parts of the story were great, but many of the chapters were bad, so I rate the Story a C), and no MMO content doesn't make for a good Expansion in any MMO.

[TUXs]

I don't know what feedback you have been seeing but what I have seen it has been the exact opposite. Its a general feeling that Arcann is a very bad villain and in fact a lazy wreck.

Arcann and Vaylin are terrible villains because the role they're in, leaders of the Eternal Empire...on their own, they'd both be powerful single bosses, but they lack all leadership qualities.

[rg_campbell]

 

"Choices matter" is a mantra that was specifically attributed to KotFE as a response to player feedback that choices mattered little in previous content. As such, being on par with the class stories in that regard should not be the goal.

 

Don't get me wrong, I feel it's a fool's errand in an MMO. But as it was promised, it's fair to hold it to scrutiny; and your barometer misses the point.

 

I agree, the product promised was different to the product delivered. I believe we as consumers therefore have a right to complain.

[casirabit]

Arcann and Vaylin are terrible villains because the role they're in, leaders of the Eternal Empire...on their own, they'd both be powerful single bosses, but they lack all leadership qualities.

 

And that is a major problem due to their position and that is why they are not thought of as good villains, such the emperor, Revan. They had leadership qualities where these two don't and for the role they have they need to have it.

 

Furthermore, I hate that I can figure out what is going on yet my character is acting like she has no sense and can't see what is happening until it happens. Okay maybe that is the problem being an actual roleplayer and writing forum roleplays but they have done our characters an injustice. They have made them look stupid and not sure about you mine are not stupid. In fact mine are probably a bit smarter than the writers writing this mess. (lol)

[rg_campbell]

I fully agree with this opinion. and I'll add with the lack of new MMO content, it made this expansion the worst. with an ok story (some parts of the story were great, but many of the chapters were bad, so I rate the Story a C), and no MMO content doesn't make for a good Expansion in any MMO.

 

The lack of group content added for a MMO has been nothing sort of outrageous. Making all the operations 65 was ok for a few months and my guild saw a rise in participation due to this, but as the year has progressed, people have become fed up with even these. Now we see 10 regulars and 8 are for our HM/NiM runs.

 

Overall I'd give the expansion an E, never really got into the story due to Vitiate's sudden changed in personality to Valkorian. We only continue to play for pre 4.0 content and I doubt this'll last long now unless 5.0 brings some new FPs and Ops.

Edited August 11, 2016 by rg_campbell

[TheScarletKnight]

Definitely agree!! Absolutely loved this expansion. Story was fantastic. I don't know if Chapter 16 could have been any better.

[Aowin]

Definitely agree!! Absolutely loved this expansion. Story was fantastic. I don't know if Chapter 16 could have been any better.

 

The only thing that really bothers me about the Outlander is his/her apparent mastery of the Force. Especially as a Jedi Knight, Arcann takes note that you are not the person he fought previously. My character retorts by stating he has "mastered the Force" and that he is "beyond Light and Dark."

 

I never felt BioWare did a compelling job of explaining how exactly one goes through this process. Yes, I know Chapter 12 was meant to explain this new journey and how the Outlander now seems to be the most overpowered character in the galaxy. I just would have enjoyed a better explanation and I also wonder what it means going forward for the Jedi and Sith.

[rg_campbell]

The only thing that really bothers me about the Outlander is his/her apparent mastery of the Force. Especially as a Jedi Knight, Arcann takes note that you are not the person he fought previously. My character retorts by stating he has "mastered the Force" and that he is "beyond Light and Dark."

 

I never felt BioWare did a compelling job of explaining how exactly one goes through this process. Yes, I know Chapter 12 was meant to explain this new journey and how the Outlander now seems to be the most overpowered character in the galaxy. I just would have enjoyed a better explanation and I also wonder what it means going forward for the Jedi and Sith.

 

For me the whole expansion raised more questions than it answered. The whole neutral/grey side of the force being more powerful than Light or Dark was blasphemous against Star Wars lore in general, but not only this, it wasn't even explained with any depth or conviction.

 

And then there's Vitiate, world killing psychotic maniac. Although now he's not a maniac, he's Valkorian a neutral force user giving power to his knights somehow. The story behind this is never explored in any depth whatsoever. Why did he abandon his quest to end all life in the galaxy? Was it when he met Senya? If so, why does he let her leave? Was it when he became a father? If so, why was he such a distant parent?

 

Questions, questions, questions.....

Edited August 11, 2016 by rg_campbell

[Syokhan]

I just would have enjoyed a better explanation and I also wonder what it means going forward for the Jedi and Sith.

 

For a force user it's a really interesting concept, and I would have loved a conversation about this too, with Lana or Theron for instance. Didn't have to be a long one, I know you can't have longish personalized conversations, but just a few lines of dialogue would have been nice. I do hope that they'll continue to touch upon the subject in KOTET.

[Costello]

Furthermore, I hate that I can figure out what is going on yet my character is acting like she has no sense and can't see what is happening until it happens. Okay maybe that is the problem being an actual roleplayer and writing forum roleplays but they have done our characters an injustice. They have made them look stupid and not sure about you mine are not stupid. In fact mine are probably a bit smarter than the writers writing this mess. (lol)

 

Yeah its often hard to work out who is more stupid my character or Arcann.

 

But I had to conclude my character. Arcann has the undying loyalty of everyone that serves him, even his bat **** crazy sister (he betrays her) and despite everything he has done the loyalty of his justice loving mother. Where as my character who has always tried to save lives, get supplies in by the 1000 save the galaxy and restore order to the Sith Empire (yeah Im a Sith Warrior no weak Jedi ) is dictated to by his followers, betrayed when the feel like it and ***** and moaned at by someone over every choice I make.

 

Clearly Arcann is doing something right and I'm inept. Cause his troops love and respect him.

[myrdinn]

The only thing that really bothers me about the Outlander is his/her apparent mastery of the Force. Especially as a Jedi Knight, Arcann takes note that you are not the person he fought previously. My character retorts by stating he has "mastered the Force" and that he is "beyond Light and Dark."

 

I never felt BioWare did a compelling job of explaining how exactly one goes through this process. Yes, I know Chapter 12 was meant to explain this new journey and how the Outlander now seems to be the most overpowered character in the galaxy. I just would have enjoyed a better explanation and I also wonder what it means going forward for the Jedi and Sith.

 

Because V has yet to take the power back and spank your toon. Then, your toon will have to walk the path of power themselves... and determine for themselves if it is light, dark, or inbetween that has value.

 

Mark my words: this is just a temporary taste of power. Kinda like the preview incarnate abilities back on the old days of CoH: that fight/combination was a taste of where you end up, not where you are.

 

I have no doubt there is some sort of "Valkorian Power Uberness" tree (perhaps, "Zakuul Power Prestige Class") that everyone will work up and through in the near future.